MASTER CIRCULARNo. – 12 Procedure for Recording Date of Birth on Entering Railway Service and Its Alteration CONTENTS No. Particulars Introduction I Declaration of date of birth at the time of appointment 1 Declaration of DOB by Candidates with documents/evidence 2 Affidavit in support of the declaration of his/her age 3 Recording of DOB in Service Record 4 Case where the candidate gives his age only and not date/year 5 When year or year & month of birth are known but not the date 6 Care to be taken in case of Group-D Staff/CL/Subs 7 Declaration of DOB must at the time of Appointment 8 Recording of DOB in Christian / Saka Era II Procedure in regard to alteration of date of birth 1 Authority Competent to Alter DOB of Group A & B and C & D i, ii, iii Grounds on which Change in DOB can be Considered 2 Cut off Date for Application for Change in DOB 3 No Cut off Date for Group-D Staff 4 Redelegation of Authority to Change DOB of Gr.- C & D to CPO 5 Change in DOB at the Direction of Court 6 Staff who have Matriculated from Calcutta/ Patna University III General IV Railway Board Orders on the Subject on Which the MC is Based V Other Orders of Railway Boardon the Subject Procedure for Recording Date of Birth on Entering Railway Service and Its Alteration At present the orders relating to the procedure for recording date of birth on entering Railway service and its alteration are scattered in a number of office circulars/orders issued from time to time. The question of consolidation of these existing circulars/orders into one Master Circular has been under the consideration of the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board). They have now decided to issue a consolidated order on the subject of “Procedure for recording date of birth on entering Railway service and its alteration” as below for the information and guidance of all concerned. I. Declaration of date of birth at the time of appointment: – 1.According to the existing provisions, every person appointed to a service/ post under the Government shall, at the time of his/her appointment, declare the date of birth and it shall be accepted by the appropriate authority on production of confirmatory/documentary evidence such as a Matriculation Certificate or a Municipal Certificate. If the person is not able to produce such an evidence, he/she should be asked to produce any other authenticated documentary evidence which could be the school leaving certificate, a Baptismal Certificate in original or some other reliable document. However, horoscope should not be accepted as evidence in support of the date of birth. (No. E (NG) II/70/BR/1 dated 3.11.71, Rule 225-RI and E (G) 84/FR1/1 dated 12.12.1985) 2.When a candidate is not able to produce confirmatory documentary evidence or any other authenticated proof to the satisfaction of the appointing authority, he/she should be asked to produce an affidavit in support of the declaration of his/her age. 3.In the case of literate staff, the date of birth shall be entered in the record of service in their own handwriting. In the case of illiterate staff, the declared date of birth shall be recorded by a senior railway servant and witnessed by another railway servant. 4.When a person entering the Railway service is unable to give his/her date of birth but gives his/her age, he/she should be assumed to have completed the stated age on the date of attestation eg. if a person enters service on 01.01.1980 and if on that date his/her age was stated to be 18, his/her date of birth should be taken as 01.01.1962. 5.When the year or year and month of birth are known but not the exact date, the 1st July or 16th of that month, respectively shall be treated as the date of birth. 6.In the case of Group ‘D” employees, care should be taken to see that the date of birth as declared on entering regular service is not different from declaration expressed or implied, given earlier at the time of employment, if any, as a Casual Labourer or as a substitutes. 7. A person who is not able to declare his/her age at the time of entry into Railway Service should not be appointed. 8.It should be ensured that the date of birth at the time of entry into service is recorded invariably in Christian Era and wherever possible in Saka Era also, both in words and figures. II. Procedure in regard to alteration of date of birth: – 1.The date of birth as recorded in accordance with the rules shall be held to be binding and no alteration of such date shall ordinarily be permitted subsequently. It shall, however, be open to the President in the case of Group ‘A’ & ‘B’ railway servants and a General Manager in the case of Group ‘C’ & ‘D’ railway servants to cause the date of birth to be altered. (i)Where in his opinion it had been falsely stated by the railway servant to obtain an advantage otherwise inadmissible, provided that such alteration shall not result in the railway servant being retained in service longer than if the alteration had not been made, or (ii)Where, in the case of illiterate staff, the General Manager is satisfied that a clerical error has occurred, or (iii)Where a satisfactory explanation (which should not be entertained after completion of the probation period, or three years service, whichever is earlier) of the circumstances in which the wrong date came to be entered is furnished by the railway servant concerned, together with the statement of any previous attempts made to have the record amended. (Rule 255-RI). 2.As a one time exception to the time limits laid down in para II.1 above, the Railway employees in service on 03.12.1971 were allowed to represent their cases for alteration in the recorded date of birth latest by 31.07.1973. After 31.07.1973, no request for alteration in the recorded date of birth can be entertained if it has not been submitted before completition of the probation period or three years service whichever is earlier. (E (NG) II/70/BR/1 dated 04.08.1972) 3.It is clarified that the above time limits will not apply in the case of illiterate Group ‘D’ staff. (E (NG) II/78/BR/12 dated 25.10.1978) & (E (NG) I/86/BR/7 dated 19.10.1986) 4.Regarding alteration in the recorded date of birth of Group ‘C’ & ‘D’ railway employees, General Managers may redelegate their powers under Rule 225.RI to their CPOs. It is clarified that these powers do not include the power to relax the time limits and other conditions stipulated in para II.1 above. (E (NG) II/71/BR/4 dated 16.07.1971) and (E (NG) II/82/BR/10 dated 04.08.1972) 5.Where the date of birth in the Matriculation Certificate has been corrected by the State Education Authority at the instances of or on direction from the Court of Law, the requests for alteration in the recorded date of birth may be considered provided that where the Court was moved by the employee before 31.07.1973, he had also made representations to the Railway Administrations before 31.07.1973. It is, however, clarified that though the request of the employee could be entertained, it need not necessarily be accepted. Relevant considerations like why the employee could not move a Court before 31.07.1973, whether the employee had derived any advantage by declaring the original date of birth which he would not have got as per the revised certificate and also whether the date recorded was as per Matric Certificate or on some other basis, will have to be kept in view by the General Manager before deciding the case in the light of the extant instructions. The reasons for accepting or rejecting the request should be recorded. This power is to be exercised by the General Manager himself and should not be redelegated. (E (NG) I/85/BR/2 dated 07.05.1985) 6.In the case of Railway Servants who had matriculated from the Calcutta and Patna Universities and whose dates of birth have been recorded as first day of the month on the basis of their Matriculation Certificate indicating the age in terms of years and months only, the alteration in recorded date of birth in such cases may be made on production of satisfactory documentary evidence to support the fact that Calcutta/Patna University had been following, at the relevant time, the practice of indicating the age of a person in terms of years and months, as on 1st March excluding days and also an extract from the Birth Register indicating actual date of birth claimed by the employee. The power to decide such cases rests with the General Managers who may also redelegate the same to the Chief Personnel Officers. However, no change on the basis of these orders will be permissible in case of employees whose Matriculation Certificate also indicates the actual date of birth. (E (NG) II/75/BR/1 dated 03.01.1977) III. General: (a)While referring to this Circular, the original letters referred to herein should be read for a proper appreciation. This Circular is only a consolidation of the instructions issued so far and should not be treated as a substitution to the originals. In case of doubt, the original circular should be relied upon as authority. (b)The instructions contained in the original circulars referred to have only prospective effect from the date of issue unless specifically indicated otherwise in the concerned circular. For dealing with old cases, the instructions in force at the relevant time should be referred to, and (c)If any circular on the subject, which has not been superseded, has not been taken into consideration while preparing this consolidated letter, the said circular, which has been missed through oversight should be treated as valid and operative. Such a missing circular, if any, may be brought to the notice of the Railway Board. IV. The Circulars from which the consolidation has been made: – 1. E (NG) II/71/BR/4 dated 16.07.1971. 2. E (NG) II/70/BR/1 dated 03.12.1971. 3. E (NG) II/70/BR/1 dated 04.08.1972. 4. E (NG) III/77/BR/1 dated 03.01.1977. 5. E (NG) II/78/BR/12 dated 25.10.1978. 6. E (NG) II/72/BR/10 dated 04.11.1982. 7. E (NG) I/85/BR/2 dated 07.05.1985. 8. E (G) I/84/FR1/1 dated 12.12.1985. 9. E (NG) I/86/BR/7 dated 19.10.1986.
